1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of medicine. More specifically, the invention comprises a method for accurately determining the volume of portions of the human body, for use in treating swelling disorders and other medical conditions, as well as facilitating analysis of the data obtained.
2. Description of the Related Art
In assessing and monitoring certain conditions of the human body, it is often helpful to know the volume of a portion or portions of the body. One example of a condition of interest is the presence of edema. “Edema” is generally defined as the retention of excess fluid within the tissues of the body. It typically results in swelling of the affected area.
Clinicians are trained to observe the presence of edema. These observations have not traditionally been reliably quantified, however. In some instances a measurement of circumference or chord length of the affected area is made. These measurements can give qualitative results regarding changes over time—such as the fact that the edema in one particular area has improved. However, such local measurements do little to aid the understanding of edema over a segmental region, broad area, or the body as a whole.
To document the progress of treatment it is often necessary to evaluate the edema over time. It is very difficult to repeat one or two measurements taken of a particular location, since they may not be tied to a convenient anatomical reference. Thus, the traditional approaches may not be able to provide repeatable results even in terms of a qualitative change over time. If, as an example, a clinician measures the diameter of a patient's forearm between the wrist and the elbow, it may be difficult to repeat the position of the measurement when the patient is back in the office a week or two later. If a different diameter is then observed, the clinician will not know whether it represents a change in the patient's condition or merely an artifact of the measurement process.
In contrast, the process disclosed herein generates repeatable results from visit to visit and clinician to clinician. Using the process, volumetric data from a specific patient can be accurately obtained and thereafter used to evaluate the treatments administered.